Moirai
by pandorabox82
Summary: The return of Alex Blake to the BAU signals the surfacing of old secrets buried in the past. Secrets that no one else knew but Alex, Erin, and David. And then Alex reveals that secret to all present in an attempt to get the upper hand on Erin. What will the fallout of such revelations be?


"Have you told them yet how you killed Dave's child?"

The question rang out over the bullpen like a shot, all heads turning to look at Alex Blake and Erin Strauss, who had, until that moment been arguing quietly about the results of the last case. Erin felt quick tears prickle her eyes, and she looked for a way to escape the scrutiny of her peers. There was none, though, and so she bowed her head, blinking back the tears. "No," she whispered and saw from the corner of her eye how Alex smirked.

"What is going on here?" Aaron's voice cut through the murmurs that had risen up after the shock of the proclamation had worn off a bit. He rested his hand on Erin's shoulder and she pulled away from him imperceptibly, not wanting his pity.

"We were just having a bit of a disagreement, Aaron. I need to get back to my office, there's a budget meeting soon." She turned from them, from the gossip mongers in the bullpen who longed to see her taken down a peg once more, and walked briskly to her office, fighting to keep the tears from falling until she had reached the sanctuary of her office.

Vaguely, she heard someone following her, but she ignored them, needing to keep her focus or risk shattering like fragile glass. Helen took one look at her face and just nodded, offering her a small smile. She was about to close her door when the person who had been following her made his appearance. "_Dolce mio_, let me in."

"I'm not your sweet, David. Please, leave me alone." She couldn't look at him, and barely fought him when he gently pushed his way into her office, closing the door behind them. Then he wrapped his arms around her, holding her gently as she broke down into harsh sobs.

"Why would you think you're not my _dolce_, Erin? I haven't broken up with you."

"Not yet. But you will. There will be too much stress, too much strain, and the first thing that has to go will be me. Just like with Alan. I wasn't meant to be happy, I guess." She knew, deep in her rational mind, that she was being completely ridiculous, but that was how she felt at the moment.

"No, I won't, Erin. I promise you that." He leaned back to kiss her forehead gently and she tried to stop her sobs, choking on the mucus that came from her tears. "Let's get you over to your couch, _dolce_." He guided her there with soft hands and they sat down. She wasn't surprised that he pulled her into his lap, it was what he did when she was crying, and it comforted her more than words could say.

"I love you too much to put you through this again, David. This was hanging over me like a, a, a sword of Damocles from the moment she returned to the BAU. I can't face them, you know. They'll hate me even more than they did before for my failure."

"You never failed me, Erin. I should have been the one to protect the both of you and I didn't. If anything, I failed you." He gently lifted her chin and kissed her before cradling her head close to his chest once more. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and she nuzzled her face into his chest as she felt the beginnings of a horrendous headache creep into her brain.

A soft knock on the door had them both looking at it, and it opened to reveal Helen. "Hello, Ma'am. Um, Agent Hotchner is out there, wanting to talk to both of you. Should I send him in?"

Erin looked up at David, curling her hand in the fabric of his shirt. "I suppose that will be fine, Helen." She slid off David's lap and grabbed hold of his hand, threading their fingers together. "Maybe I should have retired instead of coming back."

Her lover opened his mouth to respond when Aaron stepped through the door. "I'm sorry to barge in on you, Ma'am, but Morgan wanted me to make sure you weren't craving." His eyes were tender, and that look tore at her heart. She felt her eyes well up once more, and he nodded as he brought one of the chairs over to sit in front of them.

"I'm fine, Aaron, thank you."

"Not to put too fine of a point on it, but you are not, Erin." David closed his hand around Erin's shoulder, squeezing lightly as she shrugged at him.

"Would you like to talk about what's going on?"

She pursed her lips, looking down at her lap to avoid both their eyes. "I've told you before that I don't do that sort of thing, Aaron. I have to be self-reliant, especially now." She knew her words were unbelievable, even to her own ears, but she still needed to tell herself that, so that in time she would believe it.

"Well, my team doesn't seem to think that's true and I'm not to leave until I've gotten to the bottom of things. Did I really hear Blake accuse you of killing David's child?"

She looked up at her lover, seeing the pain in her heart reflected in his eyes. "Yes, you did, Aaron. And it's true." Erin couldn't continue, the tears had clogged her throat up once more, choking out anything more she might have wanted to say. She burrowed in close to David, letting him rub her back as she cried once more.

"I'm going to take her home, Hotch. Send Reid to us a little later on, she'll probably need to speak to her sponsor, once she's calm."

"Of course. And I'll talk to Blake about how we treat our superiors." Erin felt a warm hand close around her shoulder, offering comfort to her. "And I'll see if Beth wants to double date tomorrow night. It will be nice to have some adult time."

She listened to him leave before pushing away from David. "Kiss me?"

"Quickly," he replied, covering her lips with his. She would never get over the way his soft goatee hair tickled her face gently every time they kissed. It was something that she had come to love about this second time around relationship of theirs. "Are you comfortable about heading out now?"

Slowly, she nodded and stood up, holding out her hand. He shook his head, joining her and then reaching up to cup her face, wiping away the tracks of tears on her cheeks. Leaning forward, he kissed her cheeks in turn before placing the softest of kisses all along her face, finally capturing her lips once more. "There are some things I will never grow tired of, David."

"I feel the same way." Finally, he slid his hand down her arm to clasp her hand, holding on tightly. "Grab your purse, _dolce_." She nodded and led him over to the desk, pulling open her bottom drawer and taking out the handbag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Can we take the stairs? They're closer to my office and might allow me to avoid seeing Alex once more."

"Whatever you'd like, Erin." They stepped out into the outer office and she smiled at Helen, watching the woman smile back.

"We're heading home now. If there are any calls for me, please take a message and put it on my desk. Have a good night."

Helen gave a sharp nod as she stood and came up to them. "I wish there was something I could do, Ma'am." To her surprise, she let the woman hug her tightly. "I watched you fight that demon for so long, and I do not want to see you stumble once more. If you need anything, anything at all, just ask."

"I'll keep that in mind, Helen." Pulling away, she once more smiled at Helen before stepping back into the comforting shadow of her David. "We'll see you tomorrow."

It was her turn to lead her lover and she opened the door to the stairwell, slipping inside it and quickly making her way down to the parking garage. They got in his Cadillac and he pulled out into traffic as she curled up in the passenger seat, watching the scenery pass them by.


End file.
